The production of methylated organoantimony compounds by Scopulariopsis brevicaulis

Cultures of the fungus Scopulariopsis brevicaulis were grown in antimony-rich media. Although volatile compounds of other elements were readily detected in the culture headspace, volatile antimony compounds were formed irreproducibly and at only ultratrace levels. In order to monitor the media for nonvolatile methylantimony compounds, a method of sample preparation was developed, based on solid-phase extraction. This enabled the separation of large quantities of soluble inorganic antimony species from trace amounts of organoantimony compounds before speciation by HG–GC–AAS. By this methodology methylated antimony compounds were detected at concentrations of 0.8– 7.1 µg Sbl⁻¹ in all media in which S. brevicaulis was grown in the presence of antimony(III) compounds. These methylantimony species were not detected in any of the nonliving or medium-only controls. Methylated compounds were not detected where S. brevicaulis was grown in the presence of antimony(V) compounds. This is the first study to show that antimony(III) compounds are biomethylated by S. brevicaulis under aerobic-only growth conditions. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.